Journey with Quest
by Tenxtena
Summary: Quest Crew kicks it with their new girls.


Frank, the security guard, secretly looked forward to Thursday afternoon. Oh, sure, he always acted pissed when the rowdy group of Asian kids, with that one random white chick, burst through the doors of the Tyler Mall each Thursday, but he really liked them. They were loud, but in that cheerful, I'm-not-going-to-be-a-dumbass kind of way. And they bought him gelato from the small stand when they left, so yah, they were all right. But MAN did they dress weird!

He always heard them before he saw them, the one named D-Trix whooping and hollering from across the parking lot, and the only white girl, Annette, quick to bounce a joke off him, before it was an all out sarcasm war. A few minutes later, they came through the same door as always, wanting to pass by the Cartoon Field shop that was set up; It was 90% of the groups favorite store. The small store was consumed by the ten twenty-something's, who, oddly, were all decked in purple. Frank remembered asking them why they always dressed in purple one day. "So we can find each other if we ever got lost!" said Victor calmly, the bright streak of red in his hair blazing brightly against the stark black of his natural color. Frank still doesn't think that makes any sense at all, but he doesn't argue because hey, they buy him ice cream.

He looked at the group, naming them in his head to see who was missing. There was Steve at the far left, the shortest one with a purple shirt layered on top of a white long sleeve, standing next to Hok and his random haircut. He, wearing a purple studded belt, was facing a different direction from the girl standing at his right, and they were not REALLY standing next to each other, but his right hand was placed softly on the small of her back, which meant he wanted to make sure she was close. That one was… Eriol? That's right, she always wore that lavender bow her friend had made for her. Next to her was her best friend, Annette, the only white in the bunch and clad with purple high top converse, who was talking animatedly about a video game she saw in the glass counter. Moving on, the hyperactive one with a purple buffalo scarf was swiftly scanning at the latest volumes of his favorite anime, muttering to himself. They called him Ryanimay, but his name was just Ryan. D-Trix was behind Annette, pretending to be a monkey and nit picking at her short hair with his scarfs' fringes; their hair was almost identical, with the exception of her long bangs. Kristina, the last girl in deep violet pants, was hanging outside the store with Brian, the quietest out of the group and wore about eight purple thread bracelets Kristina had made and Feng, who hair matched most of his bright purple jacket. The last one, Victor, was tying his shoes next to the bin of posters. His laces matched the plain tank he was wearing, a dark purple bordering on black. Seventeen minutes, three shouting matches, and a spontaneous arm wrestling match later, the group left the store, Ryan happily swinging a bag full of books and Annette holding up Eriol's purse so she can attach her new keychain. They walked towards their 'Usual Spot' (Annette had insisted they dub the tables by the Hot Dog on a Stick this, being heavily influenced by her favorite game) and completely domineer the two small tables and six chairs.

All the boys sit down, with D-Trix swiftly pulling Kristina on his lap; Hok sits in a chair and Eriol directly in front of him, her legs swinging and his hands interlaced her hers, resting on top of her knees. Feng slouches in his seat while Annette hugs his shoulders from behind and plants a soft kiss just in front of his ear. Steve, the only guy without a seat… again… plops on top of the other unoccupied table. This was a usual Thursday afternoon with Quest Crew; sometimes Lydia joined in, but it was mainly these ten, and they NEVER made plans other than this trip to the mall every Thursday. The girls were all going to different schools and the boys were always on the move, so it was so amazingly hard to find time together. Hok and Eriol were the first to be together, and together they got Annette to quit being so blind and notice that Feng liked her as hard as she was crushing on him. Her and D-Trix were already best friend, so it was easy for her to fill his head with amazing tidbits about her other best friend, Kristina, who was smitten with the jokester. Kristina didn't believe Annette when she said she was dating Feng and could introduce her to D-Trix, until she finally managed to drag the Filipina to the mall with her and literally pushed her into Dominic. He caught her and they stared at each other for a few moments, before Kristina promptly fainted.

"AH! Stina, crap! Ugh, move, D…. Stina, babe, you okay?" Annette rushed forward and held her friends face in her hands, but it was D-Trix who managed to revive her. He put her head in his lap and silently took his scarf and poured water on it, making a makeshift sponge. He carefully moved her bangs out of the way and dabbed her forehead that was beaded with sweat. He ran his fingers through her hair methodically, waiting for her to recover. A few moments later, she murmured pitifully and searched for a hand; Annette grabbed it and, sitting by her, roused her.

"Hey, Stina, you okay?"

She looked over at her friend, not noticing the hand smoothing her hair or the man she was practically laying on. "Hey… yah. I'm fine. What happened?"

"You fainted right after D-Trix caught you. Dork."

She flushed and closed her eyes, just noticing that she was NOT on her friends lap and therefore had a sick feeling she knew exactly who was comforting her. She opened her eyes to find a very close, very upside down D-Trix who looked away and softly said 'Hi.'

He tried to carry her for the rest of the day, but after her insistent rebukes, he settled on snaking his arm around her waist. He asked her every six minutes if she was alright, if she needed anything. Once he accidentally said "You pretty." and a massive blush was Kristina's response.

And they had a date for the next day.

"So, D, do you like her? Didn't I tell you she was pretty?"

"Wow."

"EARTH TO D-TRIX. Did you like her?"

" I… wow." Annette didn't even bother to making him continue, he was too busying texting her anyway.

Hok and Eriol were a little more… harsh in their meeting. Eriol's family had invited Annette to go with them to a Journey concert and they were comfortably in the pit, ready to go ballistic when the band came on stage. Eriol's sister went as far as to wear a bright yellow shirt with the emblem of the Filipino flag on it, and it was commented on by a man standing behind them. He was wearing a hood and shades, which was REALLY odd seeing as they were in a dimly lit concert hall; he glanced at the shirt and muttered 'I wonder why she's here…' sarcastically.

Arielle turned her head and quickly replied "For the kick ass music, that's what." She turned back and didn't see the man smirk.

"Might I ask, why is Journey so 'kick ass'?"

She whirled around, her eyes bright. "They have classic, amazing themes. No crap about sex or the girl of the week, their music is timeless. Mariah Carey may have a lot of hits, but no one will remember her in 10 years. Journey music will never fade!"

He was thoroughly impressed; that's exactly what he felt about the music he liked. He was about to introduce himself when Annette grabbed Eriol and whipped her around. She couldn't believe her friend hadn't recognized that voice!

"Do. You . Even. REALIZE. Who. You're. Talking. To????" Annette whispered harshly. Eriol thought about it for a second then the whites of her eyes became quite visible and she slowly turned to look at her verbal sparring partner. He was grinning broadly and took of his shades, revealing the round, handsome face of Hok.

"My name is Hokuto, but, you may call me Hok." He invited her to get some boba after the concert, and the rest was history.

Annette and Feng became a couple exactly two weeks and five days after they met each other. Annette flirted with him, but really had no hope that the feelings would be reciprocated. She didn't think she was all that pretty, and she was white, but she told herself to try anyway. Flirting made a person more charming, and she figured they could still be friends. Her and D-Trix hit it off right away, constantly bickering and arguing about something or another, and Feng usually agreed with her. When she teased him, he responded with a gentle joke, and one day when she was really stressed about school, Feng stayed with her the whole day, not making her talk, just being by her side so that when she wanted to, she would have a confidant. He asked her to go steady the next day, sure that she would know how much he liked her … but she thought he was kidding and them, blushing, left to go find her girls and drag them to the nearest restroom for privacy.

"Feng just asked me out."

Both Eriol and Kristina stood, dumbstruck, then simultaneously squealed 'Congratulations!'

Annette looked confused, and calmly replied "He didn't mean it, he was just kidding. Like, a joke." She stood stoically while Eriol rolled her eyes and Kristina moaned into her hands. They couldn't believe how, for an intelligent person, she was such an idiot.

"You're kidding, right? Please tell me you didn't run away when someone you really like OBVIOUSLY likes you back and asked you out." Kristina smiled sweetly, emphasizing the word by splitting the word into four syllables.

Eriol pitched in. "Um, yah. Duh. He likes you. Why do you think he talks to you the most? He laughs at all your jokes, and he always strikes up a conversation with you. He NEVER does that to anyone else." Annette was thoughtful for a moment, then looked horrified.

"Oh my gosh."

"Yah, good going, Annette."

"Oh my GOSH!" She ran to the mirror and re-spiked her hair, trying to make herself look decent when her two friends deftly grabbed her arms and lead her out the door, and promptly ran into Feng. He looked down softly, and in return, Annette grinned broadly, grabbed the sides of his face and brought his lips down to her.

And that was two years ago, and they all were still completely inseparable. The girls wanted to get something nice for their boys, so they had planned on finding something at the mall; after talking for a few minutes, Annette drew herself up and patted Feng on the shoulders.

"Alright, we have to go shopping, and then right after Eriol and I are going to Millennium with Kristina."

The boys looked over, confused; Ryan perked up and asked "Why can't we just go together like we always do?" Hok stared at Eriol, waiting for a response, and D-Trix tugged at the edge of Kristina's top, pouting and putting his chin on her shoulder. Feng just threw his head back over the edge of the chair and glared at Annette, upside down.

"Because… don't worry about it. We have to buy girl things. Like fluffy tiaras and purses that look like puppies." Absolutely no one believed her; hell, she didn't even believe herself.

"Okay, are you gonna trust us or not? Don't worry, you're still gonna pick us up at the Dance studio, right? So, you'll see. Maybe." Annette grinned and started to walk around the chair she was standing behind. Kristina and Eriol got up to follow suit; D-Trix pulled Kristina back onto his lap, Hok stood up, pushing her legs onto the table and planted a firm kiss, and Feng grabbed Annette's hands and gave her a classic Spiderman kiss. The girls were all blushing when they finally got up and walked toward the escalator.

"Good, their gone. Now, for tonight…" muttered Hok, and the seven boys put their heads together .

The girls chatted casually as they headed towards their various stores, determined to find something perfect to get their guys.

"I'm getting him a scarf."

"Wow, how original! Because he totally doesn't wear one like everyday!"

"That's why it's a good present!!"

"If I got Hok a hat, that wouldn't really work. He's got too many… like… extra hair pieces."

" I thought you were going to get him some diamond encrusted premium leather wallet engraved with his name in three different languages and lined with 14,000 year old deep purple Chinese silk that was buried with the First Emperor and rimmed with a Japanese proverb that, oddly enough, coincides with your family crest?"

"Nah. I changed my mind."

"Oh."

And so they went for hours, with absolutely no progress and becoming more and more frustrated with themselves. At ten till, they were forced to give up and vowed to come by the mall again; climbing into Annette's rusty mustang, they all felt a little disappointed, until Feng text messaged Annette with a ominous 'Have you checked the glove compartment?'.

"Eriol, open the glove compartment, Feng did something." She eyed the compartment warily as the Filipina opened the hatch and three small boxes tumbled out, each with a set of initials on the top. Eriol opened hers, and then Annette's, to find a different piece of jewelry for each. Kristina fastened her twisted gold bracelet on her wrist, while Eriol began putting in her sapphire and onyx chandelier earrings and Annette held up pendent made of jade and silver.

"Awww, I feel so bad now! We went to get them stuff, come back empty handed, and then they break into my car and give us gifts! That's so sweet!" Annette crooned, placing the necklace back into the box so that she could drive safely. "Stupid amazing boyfriends."

" Where are they taking us, again? It better be good, I could like three big mac's…" Kristina muttered, not wanting to teach twenty seven teenaged kids how to do a decent dance. As a choreographer for Millennium Dance Complex, she was one of the lead designers of the showcases they put on tri-annually, and she had even created two dances for the eleventh season of 'So you Think you can dance'. Eriol was immensely busy at UC San Diego, finishing up her medical degree and filing for internships at the leading hospitals, leaning the most towards Cedar Sinai Medical Center. Annette was doing almost the exact same thing, except she worked more with her water loving friends; she was currently a intern vet at the Aquarium of the Pacific, and loving every minute of it.

Annette and Eriol chuckled as they pulled into the parking lot, and they all clambered out, Annette hastily clasping on her new necklace. They ran inside of the building, expecting to hear the dull roar of eager students, but instead it was eerily still. The girls slowed, looking at each other curiously; this was NOT normal and they knew it. Even the lighting was dimmer than usual, making the long hallways look deserted and creepy.

Eriol looked at the other two, eyes wide with what looked like mild agitation. "This is weird, why…" she stopped short, her voice caught in her throat as she stared past Annette's shoulder. Startled, the girls looked back behind them to find three black clad strangers standing silent. Calmly, they walked toward one of the girls and attempted to tie a scarf around their eyes; yah, right.

Annette pushed the man back and shouted. "Get away from us!" One of the guys snickered and pulled his JabbawockeeZ mask away from his face.

They looked at him, dumbfounded. Victor better have a REALLY good reason for trying to kidnap them.

"Just… shut up and let us kidnap you. We promised them that we'd make this convincing." Victor snapped his mask back on and held up the scarf in his hand, waiting. The three girls broke out into broad grins, and letting out a sigh, Annette turned around and allowed the quarter redhead to blind her. Steve went behind Arielle and almost snagged her earrings on the scarf, and Kristina was adjusting the cloth so it didn't cover her nose; Ryan apologized softly before swiftly picking her up bridal style. She screeched and demanded to be let down, and Eriol and Annette would have laughed if they didn't also get swept up.

"This is ridiculous. What are you doing? Why is this happening?" Eriol was quite disgruntled, seeing as she was not picked up on a regular basis. Steve just chuckled and said "calm down, you'll see soon enough." To Annette's left, Ryan and Kristina were in a animated conversation about why her hair smelt so good and who had the best shampoo collection. Ryan clearly won.

They knew they were nearing their destination when the boys placed them softly on their feet and then held their arms to walk forward. Pushed back into chairs, they sat on what felt like a soft, very large couch.

"There's a couch in here?"

"Millennium, to my knowledge, does not have a couch at all."

"Oh wow, they went all out."

Moments later, the intercom buzzed and a familiar voice rang through the school.

"Will all the students report to the main dance hall? I repeat, all the little tykes, please scoot yourselves over to the main dance hall. And no, you CAN'T sit on the couch with Kristina." She moved her right hand to cover her mouth, suppressing a grin and just repeating "Oh my god, oh my goooood…."

A new voice came on, one that Eriol jumped at. "Yah, please stay away from the temporarily blind girls, we aren't going to harm them. Unless you count their hearts bursting with adoration for us. Then yes, we will harm them." She blushed and looked away, 'humph'ing softly, and crossed her legs.

Lastly, a deeper voice came on the speaker for all to hear. "Oh yah. Don't touch the boxes. Love you, baby." Annette cracked up, hearing Feng's blunt message ring out for all to hear.

Hundreds of feel shuffled into the auditorium, clapping and whistling when they saw the lone girls.

The blindfolds were ripped off suddenly, leaving the three girls blinking rapidly to adjust to the brightly lit room; three non descript boxes were set up on the floor. The lights shut off with a thunderous clunk, and Kristina squealed and clung to Annette's arm; a few seconds later, three spotlights came on the boxes, but Hok, Feng and D-Trix were now on top of them, posing to the side and holding onto the fedora's that graced each of their heads.

"Oh my…"

"This is so epic, oh geez!"

Eriol was just laughing too hard to say anything.

A song began to play, and right along with it, the boys began to dance along

_I ain't never fell for a girl like you (like you).With jeans and a body that curves like you (like you).I don't really care what they say, when it comes to a difference of age.I can show you all the things I'll your heart, never raise my let down your guard.I know it's a lot to ask trust in me, but I can make a difference right now you'll 't you see what you holding me, that does to time you walk pass,Oh!_

The boys popped up, falling back onto the ground as the last word rang out. The music adjusted softly, suddenly becoming a completely different song, and the boys glided towards their girls, kissing them softly in turn as they slid back into their choreographed routine.

_You should let me love you Let me be the one to, give you everything you want and __**need**__Baby good love and protection Make me your selection Show you the way love's supposed to be Baby you should let me love you, love you, love you _

The cheers were thunderous behind the couch, but none of the girls paid the slightest attention. They were far too fixated on the dancers before them, awed by the fact that all this time, energy and love was meant solely for them. The final song blended with the last and became its own, weaving itself through the speakers.

_I wanna be the smile you put on your face,_

_I wanna be your hands when you say your grace_

_I wanna be wherever is your favorite place_

_Ohh_

_I just wanna be close_

_If It's hard for you to get to sleep_

_I will sing you a melody_

_I wanna feel this way till the end of time_

_For I pray one day that you will be mine._

_Ohh, I JUST wanna be… close._

The boys ended their dance, and ignoring the dull roar of the students behind them, Eriol, Annette and Kristina ran up to Hok, Feng and Dominic and hugged the life out of them. They couldn't say anything, because everything had already been said.


End file.
